Bouchard gets favourable draw at French Open, but could get Kvitova in quarters

PARIS – If Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard can break out of her current slump, she has a good chance to make a deep run at the French Open.

The sixth seed has a favourable draw at Roland Garros, starting with a first-round match against France’s Kristina Mladenovic.

The two have met only once in on the WTA circuit, with Bouchard defeating Mladenovic 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the 2013 Coupe Banque National in Quebec City.

Bouchard wouldn’t face a seeded opponent until the third round, where she could meet No. 32 Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan.

It would be the second meeting between the two in as many tournaments. Bouchard beat Diyas 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of last week’s Italian Open. That victory ended a troubling six-match losing streak for the native of Westmount, Que.

Should Bouchard reach the quarter-final, she could face a daunting opponent in Perta Kvitova. The No. 4 Czech has won all three career matches against Bouchard, including a 6-3, 6-0 rout in last year’s Wimbledon final.

Bouchard advanced to the semifinals at Roland Garros last year.

In the men’s draw, Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil plays his first-round match against Portugal’s Joao Sousa. Pospisil will be looking to advance to the second round in Paris for the first time after three consecutive first-round defeats.

Men’s No. 6 Milos Raonic is missing the tournament as he recovers from surgery to repair a pinched nerve in his right foot.

The 24-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., reached the quarter-finals at the French Open last year before falling to Novak Djokovic.